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Am I An Alcoholic?

Am I An Alcoholic?

If you have asked yourself this question, it is enough to suggest you have a problem with your drinking. Is this the first time you have asked yourself the question or has it been nagging you for some time? If the question won’t go away, what does that tell you? In the simplest sense, being an alcoholic means you have a dysfunctional relationship with alcohol. You know you drink more than is good for you. You know that alcohol is liable to cause you trouble and waste your time. You know you often drink when there’s no reason to. Your drinking makes you uncomfortable so sometimes you stop for a while, just to make sure you don’t have a problem. Still, it irritates you when family or friends comment on your drinking.

Most folk don’t bother to check whether they have a problem with alcohol, probably because they don’t. They drink alcohol when there’s a good reason, and keep away from the stuff otherwise. They rarely drink alone. They stop when they’ve had enough because feeling ill has taught them a lesson about the effects of alcohol. Or they drink more than usual and get drunk as a result. Next day, they put up with the hangover – they don’t pour themselves ‘a hair of the dog’.

If your drinking makes you uncomfortable, why not just give it up? Alternatively, why not take a drink and stop worrying about it. If you can’t do either of these things, then you may well be an alcoholic. That’s who alcoholics really are: people whose drinking causes them real worry, but they still believe that alcohol is their friend.

It’s not your fault: lots of people drink, but some of us pay a terrible price for doing so, if only we could admit it. You don’t need to be falling down drunk every day, or living on the streets to be an alcoholic. Or will it have to get that bad before you admit you have a problem? Remember alcoholism knows no bounds, socially, financially or demographically. Alcohol does not discriminate by class, race, or gender.

If you are an alcoholic – or you worry that you are – then there are two sobering (no pun intended) facts you have to know. Firstly, your drinking is bound to get worse and worse until you stop for good. If not halted, it will consume all. Secondly, you probably won’t be able to quit drinking for good without help no matter how determined you are. Or who you are.

You can get help now and no need to keep worrying? Contact us now for advice about your own situation. Remember, if you think you are an alcohol, you probably are. Why else would you think it?